The end is near..and now we face the final road trip...

Sorry to say it’s all over...we left Loxton eventually and took the long way home. We stayed an extra day and of course weather was sensational. We took the time on the last day to be REAL ’vanners and we cleaned the van, top to bottom, ready for storage back home – sorry to say I didn’t have any overalls to fit the part but it’s the thought that counts.
Funny how we travelled 9000km over 31 days and only saw bad weather for about 3 days. The temperature range from 40° C down to about 10°C at Melrose was a bit hard to handle but luckily we’d packed enough clothes for that kind of variation. I’ve been trying to update the map but it won’t let me… I may do a new one, I also sent links to photos on Picasa but I’m not sure who got the email and who didn’t…if ye didn’t and you want the link send me an email.
We’ll eventually get to Birdsville and Lake Eyre, hopefully it’ll still have water in it – going by the amount of floods we passed that won’t be hard. All the roads into Birdsville, Innamincka and Lake Eyre are either still closed or 4WD only so we STILL couldn’t get there with the van even if we had the time…next time.
Anyway, back home now, Ute unpacked, van in garage, weather still good but it’s not the same L…still the “kids” are in great form and we bored them with the full slideshow, all 900 photos…yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
TTFN…’til next time

Luverly Loxton

Loxton, another lovely town on the Murray. We decided on the way to give the National Park a miss and stay in a Caravan Park on the river, the main reason was that they hired out canoes and we fancied a wee paddle on the river. Spent the first day driving around and checking things out and found a great spot with free camping for next time, weather was glorious, 28°C and not a cloud in the sky.
Trish fancied a steak so we dragged out the BBQ, normally we’d use the ones in the park but this one was too far away from the van. The bird life around the place is amazing, Kookaburras, Cockatoos and the usual array of other parrots and squawking beasties. Just as Trish was finishing her steak a kookaburra swooped in under the awning and tried to make off with what was left but as the bone was too big the fecker couldn’t take off with it and dropped in on the ground…Trish was NOT happy and vowed to terminate the next flying thieving vermin that came near. Next morning the bacon and eggs was prepared with haste and eaten inside, just in case!

We went for our canoe trip up the Murray as we thought we’d be able to drift back down the river, it was a two seater so we could take turns paddling, OK Trish didn’t do too much of the paddling! It was hard work against the current and the wind but it was well worth the effort, we had seen an island near the town and chose that as the turning point, no other boats on the river so it was very peaceful and relaxing (for some). The trip back took less than half the time to get to the island as the current was really strong, reckon we’ll be talking about floods on the Murray River sometime soon as there is a lot of water still to come from all the other rivers we past on the trip. We decided as the weather was so good to stay another night here and then of course the weather broke and it rained…ah sure, we’ll stay another night to dry out… any excuse to put off the inevitable!!! Back to Adelaide on Sunday… Monday? Tuesday?...

Mildura and beyond...

Mildura…as expected weather sensational, 27°C and getting hotter, we’ve decided to stay here for 4 nights and just warm up, chill out and have fun. It’s a great city, lots to do and the river is flowing very nicely, the Murray River is the border line here with NSW and Victoria, we crossed the border to visit Wentworth, nice place and its another place ear marked for a longer stay, the Murray and Darling Rivers meet at Wentworth and with the amount of rain we’ve had the meeting of the waters is looking good. We had a look at the Lock and the difference in height was only about 1.5 to 2 metres, last time we went through a Lock it was at least 5 metres. Had a nice rest day and did absolutely nuffin, well, I did, Trish did our last bit of washing before we head for home. We’ve now covered over 8200 kms (that’s over 5000 miles!).
However the term “Road Closed” still haunts us, we tried every way we could think of to get to the Dig Tree and Birdsville and every time we got close it was “Road Closed”. I heard about a place called “Mungo National Park”, it was only about 100km north of Mildura and the name immediately had me intrigued, then I saw some photos and thought … “we should go there”...called into the Tourist Office in Mildura….big sign “Mungo National Park – Road Closed”…ahhh here!!!
Couple “next door” on our first few nights were from Sydney…well he was a Dub, from the Navan Road – funny when someone says the Navan Rd you can pin point where they’re from (between the Cop Shop and the Halfway House, in case ye wondered), she was a pom but we wouldn’t hold that against her and their 2 kids were really great, Trish and meself even played Vollyball with the kids and had a laff, thank God it got dark and we could call it quits, wrecked we were. We had a great few nights with them, a bit of a singsong one night but generally just chattin’ and enjoyin the wine and company…ain’t it funny how people just click. Met another couple from NZ who are on the Big Lap and not sure how long it will take and caring less, just havin fun and enjoyin the trip…way to go! I got some good advice on loading me photos so watch out you lot! Sunsets were SPECTACULAR, Murray River in full flow.
We’re off to Loxton next, not sure if we’ll “slum it” or go to a Caravan Park…

Pimba and Melrose

Had a good time in Coober Pedy but time to hit the road again and we need to catch up with Rob and Mel in Melrose by Friday. We decided to head for Woomera and spend Thursday night there before driving to Melrose on the Friday…very strange place Woomera, lots and lots of houses and apartments but there doesn’t seem to be anyone living there, strange VERY strange.
We decided to stay at a place called Pimba  about 10 kms along the road from Woomera. Trish’s good old Camps 4 book worked again, it shows all the free camping areas around Australia, very handy.  Pimba was a cross roads with a pub/petrol station/restaurant and a very large car park for trucks and fellow travelers. Toilets and showers are free too. We set up and after about an hour there were 12 other travelers set up around us and then the rains came and it poured for hours, then the winds came and the van shook all night long. In between howls of wind and lashes of rain I think we managed about an hours sleep….on to Melrose, things could only get better.
Heard on the radio on the way down to Melrose that all roads into Birdsville, Maree and Innamincka were closed to all traffic so that was the end of any thought of a Lake Eyre trip.
We met Rob and Mel in Port Augusta to do a wee shop and then off to Melrose, as we approached we could see black clouds rolling in and by the time we arrived it was lashing rain and then we had some hail and then some more AND it was FREEEEEEZING!!!!!  We had left Winton in 40°C, it was around 28 in Coober Pedy and now Melrose was about 5°C. There is a creek at the camp grounds and on Thursday kids were playing in it (no water!) by Friday evening we were thinking the now fast flowing river would burst its banks and flood us out, the amount of water was incredible. We lit a fire on Friday night and huddled around it, good food, good company and as usual some of us ate too much J. Saturday was expected to better weather wise but it turned out to be as cold so we headed off to the pub for a few cleansers and a meal. We had intended to stay in Melrose on Sunday night and then head to the Flinders on Monday but the weather was soooooo cold and according to a few fellow travelers it was a lot worse in the Flinders so we decided on Mildura, always warmer there and we hadn’t been in about 15 years so decision made…..

Coober Pedy

Arrived here tired and battered after a long day on the road. Checked the Oodnadatta Track at Marla on the way here to see if it was safe to travel but 4WD was suggested…maybe next time.
Coober Pedy is a very desolate place, the caravan park has no grass and the trees looked good but when we read that the ground had to be drilled to put the trees in it kinda hits home how tough it must be out here. After a good nights rest we headed off to the “Dog Fence” its now 5300km long used to be 9500km, there’s a lovely drive out of the town through The Breakaways and over looking Moon Plain…called that for a very good reason – there is nothing over a foot high and the ground looks like a moonscape, a very, very desolate place.
The Breakaways look like more diggings for opals but these are made by nature and quite remarkable…. I took about 70 photos but me feckin’ computer has put them somewhere and I can’t find them, obviously still recovering from the drink…the computer NOT me!
We visited “Old Timers Mine” what a hoot, ye get to put on a hardhat and wander through an old mine, great fun and thank God for the hardhat, I bounced off me head off the roof a few times. They have an area close to town where you can dig around and see if you can find any Opal, its called the “noodling area”, while I was in the caravan park office a young girl showed up to thank the chap there for telling here where the public “noodling area” was as she had found a large opal after she cracked open a rock with a hammer…she had had it valued … $4500…hate that!...off to Woomera tomorrow...

Kings Canyon

What a disappointment Kings Canyon was, it was very hot (36 ish and humid) after a 2 hour drive to get there we were expecting wonders but not to be, maybe if we had gone on the long walk over the top through the “Garden of Eden” it would have been worth it but it was too hot for climbing. We chose the easy walk through a gorge, nice but not as good as the other gorges near Alice…Trish made a friend... an emu which wanders around the camp site at Curtin Springs, it followed her to the loo and back, looked like it was making sure she got there and back in one piece.
Next stop Coober Pedy, we’re going to do it all in one go, about 650km, long drive in one day but it means we can spend 2  nights there….should be worth it… so far we’ve covered just over 6000 km and the car still chugs along.

A town like Alice...is there another one?

The country side is awash with flowers, trees, grasses and water, water everywhere. On the way to Alice we heard the Birdsville Track is still closed to cars with caravans in tow and some poor chap was on the radio and he’s been stuck in Innamincka for 3 days and no chance of getting out in the new future as the Cooper Creek is still flooded, so looks like we may the right decision to go the long way round…..so far we’re up to 5000km and still going strong!
Nice little town, very busy, maybe that’s down to the Masters Games. We did the usual tourist things a drive along the MacDonnell Ranges, Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm and then felt a bit “gorged” so we missed the next lot and headed off to Ormiston Gorge – very impressive and with all the rains they’ve had around here the place is very green with flowers everywhere, we had a few rivers to cross and the car went through with trepidation but made it back in one piece with no danger lights on. Saw the sunset from ANZAC Hill, nice…the Master Games opening ceremony was on in the local park so we had a good view from the Hill and they played that great song as they marched in…Waltzing Matilda…
Lots of eagles on the side of the road chewing on road kill but some of them are so big you’d wonder if they’d actually killed the beast and were just tucking in.
We then headed off to Uluru, about 500km south of Alice and found a free campsite at Curtin Springs, funny – no power, no phone coverage but great internet connection! Technology , ay? Its amazing the distance between everywhere, Curtin Springs is about 100km from Uluru and about 200km from Kings Canyon, which we’re told is worth the trip
Spectacular sunset at Uluru, but before that we had a stroll around and I even climbed a bit of the rock, didn’t have time to go too high as I would’ve missed the sunset (that’s my excuse anyway). … we then drove back to the free camp at Curtin Springs, tomorrow Kings Canyon….